April 2024

I always like this time of year. It is a busy one for us for sure. The CT Spring Boat Show is at the end of the month. Folks start working on getting boats into the water. Down in Florida, baseball is done and moving north. By the time you read this, hopefully UConn will have repeated and maybe those Lady Huskies will have knocked off vaunted Iowa. (Have to mention that Yale was still alive at…

Tartan Yachts, a renowned name in the world of US-produced, premium quality performance offshore sailboats for over sixty years, is pleased to announce the appointment of Rick & Kimberly Dieterich of Springline Yacht Sales, LLC in Mystic, CT as the New England dealer for the Tartan sailboat brand. The Springline team will be responsible for introducing and developing he Tartan brand in New England, growing the rich legacy of Tartan.   Tartan’s first connection with Springline Yacht…

Benefit Concert & Auction is April 13 The 3rd Annual CT Sea Music Festival will ring out along the banks of the Connecticut River and throughout downtown Essex, CT the weekend of June 7-10. Festivities begin on Friday with a scholarly Symposium on the Music of the Sea, held from 9am – 4pm at the Essex Town Hall, an evening concert (ticketed) at the Connecticut River Museum, and a late-night chantey sing at the historic Griswold Inn.  …

  Welcome to the CT Spring Boat Show, 2024! Cat’s Paw, LLC, and WindCheck Magazine are proud to manage this unique event for the participating Yacht Brokers and Exhibitors that serve the Boating Communities of Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. They are the ones who are making this growing event one of the most interesting and fun ways to provide the experienced boater with high-quality products to view but also help less experienced, aspiring people to get…

Technically, it’s the first two but certainly it also fits some definitions of a museum. It is a repository of historical, artistic and cultural objects on display – simply, there are no guards and there’s no admission fee!   We’re referring to The Griswold Inn, the oldest continuously operated inn in America, located on Main Street in Essex, Connecticut, where it has been comfortably situated for over two centuries. The ‘Gris’, as it is affectionately known by…

Cole Brauer is the first American woman to sail around the world singlehanded and non-stop. On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 07:23 Coordinated Universal Time, Long Island native Cole Brauer crossed the finish line off the coast of A Coruna, Spain to claim second place in the 2023-24 Global Solo Challenge.   In the years since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person to do so, in 1969, fewer than 200 people have sailed alone around the…

It’s not the Newport Bermuda Race, but a great alternative for competitive sailors who want an adventurous offshore experience in June. Edgartown Race Weekend, scheduled for June 20-22, includes a Thursday and Friday of ‘Round-the-Sound (‘RTS) racing followed on Saturday by the centerpiece ‘Round-the-Island (‘RTI) Race, a circumnavigation of Martha’s Vineyard that is one of yacht racing’s oldest (87 this year) and most venerable distance races. “At approximately 55 miles, our race is simpler, with no technical rigamarole…

Photo by Manon le Geun     We left our last conversation with Peter discussing Patriot Sailing and their work with returning and damaged veterans. There is another sailor out there, Kevin Le Poidevin, a 31-year veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force, also representing and promoting groups supporting returning service members through Soldier On. Coop: When you finally had some VMG with the Project, where did you go for resources? A Mini is a sailboat, but…

Avoid flogging like the plague. The best way to maintain the strength and shape of your sails is to minimize the amount of time they flap in the breeze. Flogging breaks down the sail material. Don’t, for example, let your jib luff while you are having lunch in between races. It’s much better to drop a sail than to let it flap. If your boat is overpowered, don’t just let your sails luff. Bend your mast, flatten…

By Lindsay Skedgell, Ecological Communications Specialist   Annalisa Paltauf has been managing the cleanup program for Save the Sound for seven years. An avid trail runner and cyclist, she spends most of her free time outdoors, appreciating what nature has to offer. “Since college, I have had a strong interest in preserving the environment,” says Paltauf. She believes cleanups are important because they provide immediate, tangible benefits and change, while encouraging community involvement and connection. Trash poses…